“Don’t call us…”
I was just trying to find the dates for this year’s Spring Dance Concert and found a link to the photographer who takes the posters and concert photos. It brought back memories.
I loved R-MWC and my time in the dance department but everything has its complications. I think it was pretty well known that there were favorites. They were great girls and I don’t think they were snobs or anything, at least not all of them. They were hard-working and very talented. Somehow they would get picked for seemingly ever piece and were stars. They seemed to get more attention as performers and as people. The relationships they had with faculty seemed closer, maybe it was personality that made the difference. I wouldn’t begrudge them something they deserve but what about the rest of us, we were just not talented enough? One of the commendable aspects of the dance program is that it is a Visiting Artists Program. Professionals from around the country come to teach and set their works on Macon women. Everyone gets the chance to try out (had not always been the case) but this quality of work demands talent, time and effort and a lot of each. I was honored to get the opportunity to be in some of these pieces.
In the Dance Department, we were encouraged to develop our strengths and work on our weakness. Many students started dance for the first time and sometimes amazing talent was found. No matter the level, a student was encouraged to continue improving and given the chance to grow. There were many different stories: in high school I danced many times a week and performed in the annual performance. Other girls had done more serious work and could have gone on professionally I think.
While a few students have indeed become professionals (i.e. Helen McGehee with Martha Graham and Kelly Malone-Dudley with Jump Rhythm Jazz Project), R-MWC is a liberal arts college and there are requirements in many areas to meet. Even through senior year you often take classes other than for your major, the point of liberal arts is to be well-rounded and have a comprehensive perspective. So, students who major in dance often major in something else as well. It is actually rare to major solely in dance. That’s what I did, my focus was dancing. I do enjoy American Literature and European History so I minored in those.
After graduation I did some dances at church but my only professional work (a.k.a getting paid) was for a tiny company, Mustard Seed Dance Company. The dancers came and went, the only stable (and I use that term loosely) part was the director. That lasted from November 2003 to May 2004 and I was glad to be done with it. The performing opportunities changed and our contract didn’t cover the changes so we didn’t get paid what was promised because we didn’t make enough at our own show and the other show we ended up doing didn’t pay. When I finally got a check in the mail I went shopping.
Should all this suggest to me that I wasn’t good enough to be in certain pieces or have creative photos taken? I was not invited to do concert posters until Senior Year and even then the only poster I was in you could only see my elbow and the only other shots taken I think I looked pretty stupid. I could have done so much more. I was completely devoted to dancing, even over InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, my last year, but I feel gypped. Did I do that to myself? Or, did my output not meet with my desire so I was given what I could handle? I didn’t let the discouraging feelings stop me. I auditioned for Paul Taylor Dance Company in April 2003, City Dance Ensemble in May 2003, and Jump Rhythm Jazz Project in March 2004. I didn’t get a job with those larger companies, but I still did it. And I saw New York and Chicago in the process. For PT and CD, I got faculty encouragement, but what did they really think of my chances?
I guess it doesn’t really matter what they thought. Their purpose is to educate and encourage, not to hold my hand and tell me where to go and what to do. As grown women, it’s our responsibility to choose our path and reach our potential. As far as it applies to the success and development of students, each should get equally strong encouragement. I love the way my life developed. I love being married to Tim and hardly want to put down my little girl, when she lets me.
I loved the dance program at Macon too, but I do agree that there was favoritism going on. I guess it didn’t bother me as much because I wasn’t actually a dance major and I saw the doting more as concentration on the dance majors, which, while not being completely fair, was still at least justifiable. I miss dancing. . . .I haven’t danced since Macon largely because I liked Pam so much as a teacher I don’t want to move on to anyone else and because finding a studio that does Graham-based modern is so hard to come by. . . . .everybody does ballet which I’d prefer not to do (after wearing ballet shoes that were far too tight for my first semester of real ballet class, I associate ballet with hurt feet).